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REACTION: Krypton 1×07 — “Transformation”

A.K.A. I was right and I’m never going to let the world live it down!!

So last night’s Krypton was possibly the best episode so far. A real roller-coaster of emotions and a “no, wait, what, really?!” moment on one of my pet theories. I am so damn happy about this show, guys. It is so damn perfect for me.

Under the cut, I’m gonna talk about a couple things: 1) the thing I’ve been right about all along, 2) this show’s commitment to Krypton as a planet free from gender/sexuality-based oppression, 3) the Zods, and 4) my sweet boy who is going to probably ruin everything, Adam Strange.

1) Nyssa-Vex is One of Us

This is the bit I almost couldn’t believe really happened. I’ve been gunning for WLW!Nyssa since she first showed up. Between that haircut and her first line being amused disbelief that Kryptonians used to bear children in their wombs, I immediately went “that is a woman that likes women.”

And Wallis Day kept liking my tweets about that, and co-signed my attempt to make a queer Krypton tag. So, like, I was hopeful, but man. My time as a Supernatural fan really fucked me up — I generally regard queer subtext with immense suspicion, not excitement, because SPN ate up years of my life with its Destiel bullshit. I trust nothing that isn’t explicit, and so Ms. Day’s engagement with my tweets didn’t really feel like confirmation.

I got my confirmation last night, when Nyssa told Seg that she learned to fight from a “lover in the military guild […] she wasn’t very faithful.”

I was looking down at Twitter when she said it, so I wasn’t even sure I heard what I thought I heard, but Twitter soon confirmed it: Nyssa-Vex has a female ex-lover. My queen, my Machiavellian Princess with daddy issues, is our first explicit, undeniable queer revelation on this show, and I’m living for it.

2) Krypton is Giving The Gays Everything They Want

My girl Nyssa isn’t the only queer Kryptonian, either, judging from everything the writers and actors and producers have been saying, and a couple of moments in the last few episodes.

First, there’s Adam Strange (my sweet boy who makes terrible life choices) making eyes at a hot male Sagitari, and Kem, who, like Nyssa, has just always given me That Vibe.

And the producers, writers, and actors all seem to be teasing both Kem and Adam being into dudes.

Like, Shaun Sipos (Adam) said way back in March that Seg was going to be Adam’s “world,” when he was asked if Adam was going to be hooking up with any Kryptonians. And, well, given the way that relationship has unfolded, it’s a tragedy waiting to happen.

Then you have Kem! Writer/Producer David Paul Francis tweeted last night:

Kem looks a little put out… I think he was enjoying that young man’s company. #Krypton

Considering that Mr. Francis wrote last night’s episode, I think this qualifies as confirmation that Kem is into dudes.

Plus, Cameron Cuffe (Seg) has talked about how on Krypton, “Part of the impact that the genesis chamber has had on Kryptonian society is that Kryptonians are much more sexually fluid than humans. People on Krypton love who they love!” So, like, lowkey we’re looking at a lot of Kryptonians who are at least a little bit bi, and it’s no big thing.

Cuffe also mentioned that Sipos would be able to better tell us what’s going on with Adam, and I am reasonably sure that they’re lowkey saying that yes, Adam really is into dudes. Not entirely sure why they’re playing it coy, but for now, I’ll allow it.

Overall, I’m really excited about all of this stuff! It’s so great to know that this show actually is willing to give me at least some of what I want. We have roughly three characters who either are queer or are likely to be queer, out of a main cast of, like, 12, which is a 25% queer saturation rate, and I’m living for it.

(Also, I’m wondering if they’re going to set up Kem and Adam as a couple. I’m chill with it, though my heart is sort of with Adam having a huge crush on Seg.)

3) The Zod Family Reunion

I absolutely love the House of Zod. From Jayna to the General, I am 100% here for all of them. Lyta is fascinating as she chafes under a lifetime of her mother’s influence, but that relationship is complex and fascinating — and then General Zod arrives from the future and further complicates things.

I really love that in this episode, we have interactions between General Zod and Jayna-Zod, as well as an important and cathartic interaction between Lyta and Jayna. This family is the most interesting to me, because of its relationship to honor and the family’s purpose to protect Kandor, and, more largely, Krypton; it’s a different animal than Daron and Nyssa’s relationship, or Seg and the computerized Val-El, and I love that.

Hopefully, we’ll get more about them in the last three episodes — as well as some outright answers as to the General’s major motivations.

4) Adam…Honey….No.

I really love Adam, and I understand that the general goal of any time traveler is to protect the integrity of the timeline, unless things are so incredibly fucked that time travel is the only way to fix it. Like, I’ve seen Legends of Tomorrow and Days of Future Past, I get the logic behind Adam’s position.

I just…I really do think he’s in the wrong, here. Now that Seg knows about the future, Seg has the moral responsibility, I think, to protect his people and his planet. I don’t think that Adam has any right to prevent him from doing that.

But I think it’s really awesome that the show is going there. It’s asking the questions that I haven’t really seen asked that much about time travel. You have to question your assumptions regarding time travel stories, and who the good and bad guys are, and it’s really, really great.

Conclusions:

Overall, I am so so so so happy with this episode. Krypton gets better as the season goes on, and I highly recommend that anybody considering watching it that hasn’t yet, please give it a shot. By episode three at the latest, you’ll be hooked.

Anyway, hoping to finish an essay this weekend, but if I don’t, I will definitely be reacting to next week’s Krypton, so you can expect that on Wednesday night or Thursday of next week.